This invention relates generally to input/output circuit cards for computer systems, and more particularly to a stand-alone system for providing additional input/output circuit card capacity and controller support for a computer system.
In a typical computer system rack having a system processor unit and related circuitry, input/output capacity is quite limited. The desire to house various computer components and peripheral devices within the system rack typically results in a small amount of physical space available for adding I/O peripheral component interconnect (PCI) cards. This lack of I/O capacity inhibits the ability to increase the functionality of the system. Further, the space dedicated to I/O cards in a typical computer rack cannot be used for other equipment such as peripheral devices, reducing the utility of the system. Increasing the size of the computer rack to accommodate additional I/O capacity is cumbersome and the computer components become difficult to access and manage.
To solve this problem, additional computer racks have been equipped with added I/O capacity and interfaced with the main computer system. However, because the I/O components require the resources of the main computing system to provide utilities such as power management, performance monitoring, and operation controls, this solution depletes the resources necessary to run the main computing system. Further, no mechanism has been proposed for easily and conveniently installing and removing a PCI chassis from a computer rack.
Thus, what is desired is a modular expansion system for an external computer unit providing additional input/output capability that can be added as dictated by the system and user requirements. Individual modules of the system may be designed and re-designed independently of each other as needed, allowing parallelism in design and verification efforts.
It is an object of the present invention to provide expansion of the I/O capacity and controller support for a computer system. It is a further object of the present invention to mitigate the electromagnetic interference (EMI) and facilitation of electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) in the expanded I/O system while accommodating high power density, high signal cable bandwidth, interconnection of multiple modules, and user and service access to interiors of modules and to individual cables. It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide an I/O expansion system that is easy to use and efficient in operation.
The present invention meets these objects by providing an input/output expansion system (xe2x80x9cI/O expansion systemxe2x80x9d) for an external or main computing unit, such as a server having a system processor unit (SPU). The I/O expansion system comprises a rack; at least one I/O expansion module having at least one I/O circuit card; a utilities control module mounted to the rack, the utilities control module being configured to receive a command from the external computer unit and generating a signal in response to the command for distribution to at least one I/O expansion module; and an expansion power chassis mounted to the rack, the expansion power chassis being electrically connected to a power source and being configured to distribute the power to the at least one I/O expansion module and the utilities control module.
Other advantages and components of the present invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which constitute a part of this specification and wherein are set forth exemplary embodiments of the present invention to illustrate various objects and features thereof.